Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hi everyone,

I’m hoping to get some advice regarding a parking charge notice I’ve received for an alleged overstay.

I received a parking charge from UKPC for parking at Leyton Mill Retail Park, E10 5NH, on 16 December 2025. The notice states that the vehicle overstayed the permitted parking time by 19 minutes.

We were genuine customers at the retail park. During our visit, we stopped by Costa Coffee and then visited TK Maxx. We do have bank transactions to prove these visits; however, the transactions are showing on the following day, not on the same date as the parking event.

I have not yet appealed or contacted the parking company.
The first notice to the registered keeper was received by post on 02.01.2026, demanding £60.
The second letter was received by post on 12.01.2026 with the full amount of £100.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Please see 2 of the letters attached in the links below:
https://ibb.co/0jp0jBrv
https://ibb.co/XxK1qzMM

Thanks for your reply. At what ground I should state to the parking company that they should cancel the parking charge?
Thanks in advance

Thanks for your input. Just checked what makes PCN from private companies to be POFA compliant and one of the key points is:

Time Limit: For a Notice to Keeper (NtK) to be compliant, it must arrive within 14 days of the incident if no notice was placed on the windscreen.

Date of the parking to the car park: 16.12.25
Date of receiving the first letter: 02.01.26

Can this be used or stick to the fact that we are genuine shoppers doing Christmas shopping?
When is the deadline (date) to appeal to them?

Thanks in advance.

I can’t read the PCN because it’s too blurred and the higher resolution option won’t work for me, but @ixxy is right in that it’s the “deemed” delivery date that is important, the sender can’t be responsible for postal delays beyond this.

Hi Everyone, as I was advised, I appealed and received the following response from UKPC on 30.01.2026:

"Dear

Thank you for your recent correspondence in relation to parking charge reference 9556025350849.
To assist us in making a decision regarding your appeal, please confirm the full name and address of the driver to our Appeals Department within seven
days of the date of this letter.
Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 discusses the recovery of unpaid parking charges. It allows parking operators to hold the registered
keeper liable to pay unpaid parking charges if the operator has not been provided the name and a serviceable address of the driver.
This information may be confirmed by submitting another appeal on our website at www.ukpcappeals.co.uk, or by post to the address overleaf. Please
ensure that if writing to us by post that you include the parking charge reference number and vehicle registration.
Failure to provide this information will give us no alternative other than to make our final decision based on the previous information received. At this stage
a POPLA verification code will be provided.
The parking charge has been placed on hold whilst under appeal and may be settled in full at the current PCN rate of £100.00.

Yours sincerely, "

Quick question is that today is the last day of submitting another appeal and do I need to reveal who the keeper is or still stick to the owner of the vehicle's response?

Attached in the link is their response letter received by email.
https://ibb.co/ZpWyrHrH

Thanks in advance for any suggestions and help on this matter.

Thanks for your reply. I meant the driver. sorry 

Is it today my last day to reply to them?
and
Is that bellow is OK as an appeal:

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing as the registered keeper of the vehicle in relation to the above Parking Charge Notice.

I note your request for the name and address of the driver. I decline to provide this information. I am under no legal obligation to identify the driver in this matter.

As already stated in my appeal, your Notice to Keeper does not comply with the strict requirements of Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. The alleged parking event occurred on 16/12/2025, yet the Notice to Keeper was received on 02/01/2026, which is outside the mandatory 14-day delivery period prescribed by Paragraph 9(5) of POFA.

As a result of this failure, you cannot rely on Schedule 4 to transfer liability to the registered keeper. Any suggestion that keeper liability applies in this case is incorrect.

You must therefore either:

Cancel the Parking Charge Notice, or

Issue a POPLA verification code so that the matter may be referred to independent adjudication.

Please note that any further requests to identify the driver are unreasonable and will be ignored. All future correspondence must be addressed to me strictly in my capacity as the registered keeper.

I look forward to your confirmation of cancellation or receipt of the POPLA code.

Quote from: bono_01 on February 05, 2026, 07:24:35 pm

As already stated in my appeal, your Notice to Keeper does not comply with the strict requirements of Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. The alleged parking event occurred on 16/12/2025, yet the Notice to Keeper was received on 02/01/2026, which is outside the mandatory 14-day delivery period prescribed by Paragraph 9(5) of POFA.

As previously stated by Ixxy, the date you receive the NTK is not relevant. The date of presumed delivery is 2 days after when the letter was sent, which in this case was just within the allowed timeframe. Delivery delays by Royal Mail are outside of their control.

You can actually ask the parking operator for evidence of posting.